Earthbound
by Resonate14
Summary: Magic had always intrigued me. The power of an illusion is beautiful, encapsulating, a story to be told. It's been ten years since The School shut down and we were released. The government released the experiments only with their promises to keep quiet. I promised to keep quiet. I can't do that anymore. They can't keep us Earthbound anymore.


**AN:**  
 **Some quick background information:**  
 **For the purposes of this story I've aged The Flock. Max, Fang and Iggy are 18. Nudge and Ella are 16, Gazzy is 12, and Angel is 10. This is mostly because I wanted Fang to be an adult.**  
 **All members of The Flock can grow and shrink their wings at will, the process is painful, and requires energy. (This is similar to the process that Raea and the Inari race go through to appear human in the book Starfire Angels.)**  
 **All members of The Flock have all the same powers and abilities that the books gave them, expect for Iggy's ability to see whiteness.**  
 **Dr. Martinez takes care of them.**  
 **I also prefer Nick Cannon so he's still on the show.**  
 **That's all! Thanks!**

Chapter One: Premiere

The lights are bright, the air is thick with intense feelings of failure, my heart is racing, and I feel like death. In other words, after a year of debate, Max had decided to drag me to the auditions for America's Got Talent. Nudge has recently been completely obsessed with watching the show, and makes us all watch it with her. The two of us got up at 6 AM and left them a note saying we'd be gone until late but with no explanation as to where we'd be.  
Last year, while we were watching it I may have made one of the worst decisions of my life. Mid episode, after watching a terrible magician get four X's, I thought it would be great to comment on the situation.

"He's 34? I'm 17 and I could do way better."

I'm not joking when I say that Nudge's head snapped toward me. But it became immediately ten times worse when she started loudly squealing. "OMG! OMG! Fang, puhLease, please, please audition for the show! You'd do sooo much better than these people! Like, I'm not even joking and I could be one of your assistants. I mean like Max is your assistant but like we all could be in your act eventually, I mean- "

"Woah! Calm the motor mouth down Nudge," Max intercepts. "Even if Fang would want to go on the show, it's not that easy. It takes time to design a show, and by the time he perfected it the season would be over."

Nudge frowns, before standing up from the couch and placing her hands on her hips. "Don't think I'm giving up on this dream anytime soon. I will make sure you go on this show." After a surprisingly short speech from Nudge, she leaves the living room.

"Wait, where are you going? Don't you want to finish the show?" Angel shouts.

Nudge quickly reappears in doorway and lightly sprints back to her seat. "Honestly, I have no idea where I was going with that." Nudge giggles. "But still I will make sure to get you on this show if it kills me. Like I swear my one dying wish is for you to be on this show. I don't care how far you get just be on it, but I know you'll do well because you are – "A pillow connected with her face with practiced precision, shutting her up instantly.

"Thank god, can we please continue?" Iggy questions, turning the volume up without waiting for a response.

I'd be lying if I said I remembered what the rest of that episode was like. My dumb comment had sparked a possible life changing idea. I could actually do magic on television. I've performed on a stage a few times. I've never done anything too elaborate, just some simple card tricks and a variation of saw a woman in half, much to Max's extreme delight. If you can't hear my sarcasm I'm sorry, I'm still just a novice unlike Max.

After about ten minutes of me just sitting there thinking about magic, I had a brilliant idea. I stood up and cautiously stepped around Gazzy who was sitting by my feet.

"Where are you going?" Gazzy asked.

"I'm kinda tired, I was up late last night." I lied. Waving my hand in a goodnight I left the room and retreated to my room.

After closing the door behind me, I slumped in my desk chair to think. It wouldn't be too hard to adapt my tricks to a larger stage and audience. But, do I really want to? What story do I want to tell? It hit me like a truck right then. I leaned up in my chair and pulled out my magic notebook, where I write out my ideas and sketch tricks. After a while, I'm in the zone. I've planned several tricks down to the last small detail. A light knock on my door is what eventually snaps me out of my reverie.

"Yeah?" I call.

Max pokes her head through the door hand covering her eyes, "Are you decent?"

I smirk turning back to my sketchbook, "I'm wearing absolutely nothing Max. Why did you decide now was the good time to come in?"

She removes her hand and steps through the door shutting it behind her. "I'm just making sure. Last time I walked in to wake up Iggy I forgot to ask and let's just say even though it was seven in the morning I saw the moon."

"Please don't give me those images," I shuddered. I remember when we were young and had to share a room.

I feel Max shift her weight back and forth between her feet, before deciding to step towards me. I feel her lean her hand on my shoulder and her hair brush my ear as she leans forward to look at my sketchbook. "What are you working on now?"

I put my pencil down and lean back in my chair, giving her better vision towards my book. I look up at her as her eyes scan my drawings, lips moving slightly when she reads my notes. I notice her eyebrows scrunch as she goes further and further down on the page

"What are you confused about?" I ask.

Max shakes her head, "I'm less confused and more surprised. I've never seen anyone do anything like this before."

I smirk again, "That's because it's physically impossible."

Max takes her hand of the back of my chair and leans against my desk crossing her arms. "What do you mean by that?" Her eyes then go extremely wide. "No Fang. That's so dumb."

My smile fades. "Max," I hesitate, resting my head in my hand. "I really just- "I struggle.

Worry lines Max's face, "Wait, what's wrong?" her arms fall to her sides and she kneels to be eye level with me.

Avoiding eye contact with her, I continue, "Don't you just get sick of it?"

"Sick of what?" She leans towards me taking the hand holding my head up, forcing me to look at her.

"I'm sick of hiding," I finally muster, locking eyes with her.

Max's eyes sadden. "I mean, I am too Fang. But really what can we do?"

I tightened my grip on her hand, "I miss flying Max. When was the last time you can remember flying? Even then, I can't remember the last time we got to fly in the sun."

She laughs humorlessly, "On Iggy's eleventh birthday. Then we were told we could only go out at night. After that we were only told we could go out twice a month so no one gets suspicious. It's a dumb rule, but it's to protect us."

"It's not protecting us. This is keeping us caged, just like they did at the school. Except it's way worse. They tempt us with freedom, but we're just earthbound. Two percent bird isn't much, but it's enough."

"But what happens when you get found out? People will start to try and figure out what's going on," Max contested.

"Then we're free. But I won't let it happen." Max stares at me lost in thought. "It's not about the magic, it's about the story."

Max let out a long breath, standing and crossing her arms as she did so, "Fine. But somehow if all of this goes wrong, it's your job to remedy the situation."

I smiled, "Thanks Max. Let's keep this one a secret from the rest of the flock. I'd like to surprise them."

Max frowns, looking up at the ceiling. I cock my head lightly, confused by her sudden change.

 _"I promise to keep it a secret Fang. I'm sorry."_ I hear in my head.

Max locks eyes with me, "Sorry. Angel says she was worried when you left before."

I smirked lightly, _"It's okay Angel, I trust that you will."_ I felt her presence leave my head.

Max smiles, "We'll keep your secret. Don't worry." She crosses the room to the door.

"Wait Max," I stood quickly and made my way over to her. Extreme confusion etched her face. I pulled her in for an extremely out of character hug. But, there isn't a better way to thank her. Max stood still and stiff for a second, before eventually relaxing and hugging me back.

"What's this for?" Max eventually asked.

I pulled away finally, taking a step back, "Thanks for dealing with me." I flashed her a genuine smile before retreating to my desk.

She laughed lightly, "Anytime Fang. Thanks for dealing with me." I heard her exit the room and shut the door lightly behind her.

Now a year later, after many months of practicing in secret, here we are sitting backstage ready to perform on a huge stage. We stand off to the side trying not to block crew members and acts from walking back and forth. Leaning against the wall I stand with my arms crossed and my left shoulder pressed against Max's right. Max lightly fingers the sticker on her leg which has our act number.

"On deck is 041105," I heard a stagehand say.

Max leaned up and clapped, "Let's roll." I take a deep breath and follow her to the stage left wings. Closing my eyes, I start taking deep meditative breaths. Before any show I still get super nervous and have to collect myself. There is unfortunately one problem with it.

Max gripped my shoulder, "Careful Fang. Don't _disappear_ on me." I shake my head lightly, making myself reappear.

"I hopefully nobody saw that," I quote, smirking.

Max smiles, "You need to learn to take it easy."

"You guys look like you're having fun," Nick Cannon steps towards us.

"In all honesty, we're just here to have fun out on that stage today, and tell our story," Max responds.

"Alright, sounds cool. What are you guys doin' for us today?" Nick questions.

"He's a magician. I also can guarantee that we'll be showing you something unlike anything you've ever seen here," She hints.

Nick nods and smiles appreciatively, "Sounds like you guys have got it all figured out. I'm not doubting that, so get going." He waves in the direction of the stage, handing Max and me microphones.

Max locks eyes with me. I clap her on the shoulder and smirk, pushing her in front of me to lead the way.

As we stepped on the stage I can only describe the moment as exhilarating. The lights were so bright I could hardly see into the audience. I followed Max to a big bright red X that marked center stage. Not far from the edge of the stage sat four people all with similar white X's each placed in front of them. This was a stage I knew all too well thanks to Nudge.

"Hey guys how are you doing today?" Mel B asks.

"Hi Mel, we're doing great. How are you?" Max smiles. I nod to agree and smirk.

"I'm doing well. How old are you and what are your names?" She continues.

"We're both 18 and you won't believe us but I'm Maximum Ride, Max for short, and this is Fang." Max points us out respectively.

Confusion suddenly lines the judges faces, "Those are your birth names?" Howard asks leaning forward in his chair.

Max laughs lightly, "No, not our birth names. We named ourselves when we were young."

I lift the mic to my lips, "It's too long of a story."

Howard continues, "You'll have to tell me it someday Fang." Max smiles knowingly. He definitely chose the wrong person.

"What will you be doing for us today?" Howie chimes in.

"Fang is a magician. He's also a storyteller," Max answers.

"Awesome. Does your act have a name?" Howie continues.

Max hesitates. That's something we never thought about. She looks to me, face blank but eyes fearful. Looks like here comes Fang to the rescue.  
"Earthbound."

"Any reason why?" Hedi finally talks.

I lock eyes with Max, smirking. We answer together, "You'll find out."

Howard waves his arm, "Show us what you've got."

We both nod and a stagehand comes to take our mics.

Onstage behind us sits a human sized dog cage, a white cloth at its base, and a large bird perch. Max and I walk to separate sides of the setup and lock eyes. She smiles and nods lightly. We are good to go.

I turn to face a stagehand offstage and motion to start our music. The song I picked Max isn't the greatest fan of. It's "You're not Me", but I don't think I could've picked it better.

The song starts slow and low. I make my way towards Max and her towards me. Our movements are calculated, hers defensive and mine offensive. The performance begins as I take her outstretched hand and pull her to me roughly, spinning her into my chest to face the audience. I place on of my hands on her face lightly before spinning her back out making her hair go wild. Her face fills with terror, as the tune darkens.

As the lyrics start, a large bird flies from a hidden perch in the rafters to my outstretched arm, the one connected with hers. Releasing her hand, I take the bird over to its perch with a practiced and stiff grace.

 _"You think I've got it all, everyone thinks I've got it made. Well, how come my only friends are the ones I pay?"_

I lightly remove an unimportant feather from the bird's wing, and lightly pet its head. I look to Max who shakes her head in disagreement. I take fast aggressive steps towards her as she backs away lightly, arms out to protect her. Her steps are graceful, as if she were dancing, while mine are, for lack of a better word, clunkier and assertive. I make it to Max quickly taking her outstretched hand and twirling her towards me and dipping her, as if to entrance her. As she goes to an aware but limp state, I tuck the feather behind her ear, and lift her up from the knees. I walk lightly over to the crate and place her inside as her trance fades and she awakens.

 _"No one understands what I would do to change my life for just one day. Don't say if I were you, or tell me what to do. How things would be if you were in my shoes, 'cause you're not me."_

As Max starts panicking in the cage, both out of stage fear, and a small bit of true terror, I make my way around the cage. A way of showing there are no traps or wires or anything around it. I then walk in the other direction spinning the cage with me this time.

 _"You know what I need, and it's not another serenade. I get so tired of all the things you say. Gimmie what I want, if you only would I'd gladly throw this all away. Don't say if I were you, or tell me what to do. How things would be if you were in my shoes, 'cause you're not me."_

I place the cage back in its original position, and take the white sheet at the base of it in my hands. I pull it over the cage as Max's thrashing becomes more violent and scared. I think I can see her start to cry.

 _"Please take me as I am! This isn't what I planned! I guess I don't expect that you could understand."_

Before the sheet even has fully covered Max I bring the whole thing forward. In the cage Max's wings are squished but mighty, filling the entire cage.

 _"'Cause you're not me."_

As the song fades, I unlatch the cage and offer her my hand, pulling her out of the crate. Her wings unfurl to their full length and flap lightly, uncomfortable from their previous lack of space. Even though her eyes are filled with tears and her face is still panicked, her eyes are sparkling and so is her smile. It lights the room so completely that I can't help but flash my own.

At first, I didn't understand what was going on, one second I could hear my own heart in my ears, and in the next it's deafening. Oh wait. That's not my heart. It's the room. They're applauding, for us. Not only that, but they're all on their feet. I wrap one arm around Max's waist as the applause comes to a steady halt, and a smiling stagehand comes to hand us microphones. Max grips the mic with both hands like a lifeline, still shaking with adrenaline from growing her wings and panic from being in a cage again. We both nod in thanks and look to the judges. No red X's grace the table beneath them.

"How on earth did you do that," Hedi asks bewildered.

Mel hits her lightly on the shoulder. "You can't ask a magician that. Hedi rolls her eyes.

"Truthfully though, that's unlike anything I've ever seen," Howie leans forward, earning applause from the audience.

"Are you okay Max? You're crying," Mel asks worry etched in her voice.

Max laughs lightly wiping tears from her face, "I'm alright. This part of our story was rough. It doesn't bring back the greatest memories." I grip her waist tighter, a silent communication of my presence. She presses closer to me, her response.

Mel leans forward, "What do you mean?"

I lift the mic to my lips, to give Max a short break, "What we just showed you, was an interpretation of our childhood, the beginning of our story."

Max nods, "It might not make much sense, but if you let us through, we can fill in the gaps." She offers humorously. Making Mel smile.

Howard sits back in his chair waving his hand, "So you're saying that when you were kids, you were given wings?"

Max stiffens, clearly afraid we had been found out already, Fang to the rescue part two. "I merely said this was an interpretation. You can believe what you'd like. I designed the trick specifically to cater to each person's mind differently, while making sure to tell our story the best we could." I can't officially say no to his question, but I can't say yes either.

"I think I understand," Howie comments looking over at Howard. "It's not about the wings. You said you were a storyteller, and your story was that from the beginning you've been alone, caged like birds. Relationships with others were tough until you two were eventually found." I stood shocked. I actually did it. I never believed that I could tell finally tell our story. We may still be earthbound, but at least right now, our cage is unlocked.

I smiled a true smile to Howie, "Well, yeah. Not just us two, our family too."

Howie smiled, "I'm glad you were found to share your story. I'm also hoping you'll be back to continue your story with the rest of your family, it's a yes from me." The smile slipped from my face and a look of surprise graced Max's face.

"I have to agree," Mel B beamed. "I really don't think this is about your magic anymore, this is about your story. That's why it's a yes from me as well."

Max tensed, clearly holding her breath, trying not to cry again. I could feel my mouth open by itself to protest but nothing came out.

"I'll have to say the same. It's a yes from me," Hedi cheered. Max is practically jumping right now, and I'm still in complete shock.

Howard leans towards his mic, "For what it's worth I was going to give you a yes, purely because I've never seen anything like you guys, but you don't need it because you're going to Vegas."

The crowd erupts, and I'm still standing on stage practically stuck. I have one arm around Max and the other on my microphone. I'm not entirely sure what happened next, but I'm sure I'll see it later with The Flock. Next thing I know Max's arms around my neck and she's hugging me tightly. I put my arms around her waist and hug her back just as hard. We both pull back and nod our thanks to the judges.

As we are walking off stage I remember something, "Nudge get ready, I'll need your help next." I smile and wink, knowing if they are putting us on television they'll get it. I hear a few girls start squealing. Max moves her wings close to her and rolls her eyes at me pulling me off stage.  
Nick comes up to us and shakes my right hand, my left locked with Max's right. "Congrats guys! Are you guys excited?" We both nod still breathing heavily. Nick cocks his head for a second, "I heard you say Nudge before, who's that?"

Max speaks up, "Nudge is another member of our family, she's the one who loves the show. They don't know we're here right now."

Nick slyly glances at our hands, "You guys are family?"

Max shakes her head no, "Not biologically, we just grew up together. There are six of us. Plus, my real half-sister."

"Then what are you two?"

Max hesitates. Max can't stand questions like this. Not in a bad way, I just know that for whatever reason she can't answer them properly. But I don't mind, "She's my lovely assistant, best friend, my lifeline. I couldn't have a better person by my side." I squeeze her hand lightly. Max can interpret that how she wants, and Nick can receive a substantial answer to interpret how he wants.

Nick smiles brightly, "That's sweet. I can't wait to see you guys again in Vegas."

I nod my goodbye to him and smirk, now dragging Max through these tight corridors until we make it back to the area we left our jackets and things so we could go onstage. When we get there, Max pulls her wings tightly to her back and I stand behind her to block them from being seen. After she slips on her jacket making sure no other people had seen her wings, she turns to me.

She smiles brightly, "I'll be honest Fang. I didn't believe this would work. But, I do think that now that we are kind of stuck in this mess, we should finish the story for the world, right?"

I smirk, gripping her shoulder, "We should." I lead her to the exit of the building so we can drive home. It's starting to get dark now, it's likely about 7:30 or eight. When we make it to the car she unlocks it and starts it up, as I take my seat next to her in the passenger seat.

As we are on our way home I suddenly have a weird thought. "Hey Max?"

"Hm?" She asks keeping her attention on the road as we pull onto our street.

"So right now, what do we tell the flock we were doing?"

The car jolts to a stop, and Max facepalms. "That's what we forgot to do."

 **AN:**  
 **I'll make this one short. I've never auditioned for AGT nor will I ever. I had this idea several years ago, and it kind of adapted and changed over the years. I really don't even watch the show that much anymore. If I get things wrong, I'm super sorry! Meaning when that comes to the way AGT works, or I know I'm likely going to get criticism for the way I'm writing Fang's character. I also set up the story to add Fax as a ship, but will only add it if you guys want it. It won't make or break it. I accept all criticism, positive and negative. Make me a better writer please :D. Also, if this story goes well, I have an idea for a connecting oneshot to tie the ends of the story together, (but that's way too early to talk about.)**  
 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Resonate**

 **(If you found my references, Yay! Don't worry I'm such a nerd there will be more.)**


End file.
